Wild animal prints, leather patches and flowers? It’s none other than Roberto Cavalli!

Call it glamour, fashion, rock or simply Roberto Cavalli, the fashion idol of Italy has rocked the world of all fashion maniacs. His passion with colors and designing can be seen on leather, denim, silk and even feathers. His designs are wild, extremely sexy and erotic.

The Making of a Designer

Roberto Cavalli, grandson of great impressionist Italian painter was born on 15th November, 1940 in Florence, Italy into a well known artistic family. He grew up amidst fashion and art that necessarily directed him towards a creative career. He was in close contact with the fundamentals of sewing and design that really helped him to polish his skills from early days to a much celebrated designer. His grandfather’s immaculate works are still found in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The gallery is also known for its collection of paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, a real source of inspiration to the young designer. At the age of 17, he enrolled at the Institute of Art of Florence.

He acquired a sense of creativity from his artistic family. He realized that he had a special and unique gift of talent in painting and selection of fabrics. This resulted in his extraordinary fashion caliber. Being very passionate he wanted to explore the various connections between fabrics and colors. With the aid of thorough research and studies at the Academy, he invented certain processes that struck to fame instantly.

Cavalli – the designer

His initial creations were using floral patterns on knitwear and they became an instant success among the hosiery industries in Italy. Armed with innovation and creativity, he often experimented with latest technologies resulting in a revolutionary printing technique on leather. This enabled him to create his initial patchworks and earned him the clientele of Hermès and Pierre Cardin. When he was thirty, he took part in the official presentation of his first collection at the Salon for Prêt-à-Porter, bearing his name. His style on the ramp was clear. There were patchworks on leather, denim prints and intricate decorations using precious metals, brocades and wild animal prints.

In 1972, he displayed his first collection and from then on it has been growing into a powerful fashion culture that hit across all continents. Till date, he has his signature on menswear, women’s wear, kids wear and home decors.

Cavalli could not boast of a good response from the public presentation of his denim collection. The use of denim was considered less fashionable those days because nobody had used it with such variety and color. However, he believed that his contributions would certainly be noteworthy and continued his determination to become one of fashion's best and outstanding designers.

Cavalli is well-known as a leather designer. Combining light weight leather and paints, he gave a new name to fashion. His breathtaking creations were highlighted to the world when French actress Brigitte Bardot demonstrated his flair in St. Tropez on the Cote d'Azur, for about 3 hours walking barefooted.

The popular trend set by Cavalli was by then being transformed into a sect that had its own identity – a way of dressing introduced by Cavalli. His style was recognisable even among the Hollywood stars. The dramatic and theatrical style was more welcome with the female patrons and consisted of patterns with vibrant colors created using new technologies.

His new collection of jeans was presented in Milan in September 1994. Cavalli opened a boutique in December in Saint Barth in the French Caribbean. It was soon followed by a boutique in Venice and Saint Tropez.

In 1998, a distribution line - Just Cavalli was founded. This broadened to RC menswear, a line of children clothing called Angels and Devils, Class for knitwear, Freedom for casuals, two underwear collections, beachwear, shoes, eyewear, watches, perfumes and an interior design collection for homes.

Cavalli was picked as the best and favorite designer in 2002 out of the 750 menswear labels shown at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. And in the same year, the Fashion Group International named Roberto Cavalli as the Designer of the Year. Using this drive he launched his fragrance, ‘Roberto Cavalli Parfum.’

His success could not get better without the support and encouragement of his wife - former Miss Universe, Eva Duringer. With her uninterrupted back-up, he was able to carve a unique niche of his own among other world famous designers. He was true to his instincts and maintained a special style to draw a steady row of clients. This propelled him and his career to glory.

Today, Cavalli's exclusive fashion house carries men's and women’s wear, casual lines, children’s wear, underwear, timepieces and eyewear. His unique creations adorn the famous personalities like Sting, Anthony Hopkins, Alicia Keys and many other style-conscious celebrities and dress makers.

Cavalli – the man

Cavalli loves nature. He loves to be surrounded by nature and animals. He married Eva Duringer, former Miss Universe in 1980. He lives with his wife and three children in his villa on one of the hills surrounding Florence. His wife still helps him in his business. They have a beautiful 41 metre yacht where they spend their summers. Cavalli is the proud owner of a helicopter – an Ecureuil and also an enthusiastic pilot. Just like his extravagant collection, his personal life is also sexy. He is well known conducting grand parties and his guests include Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Cindy Crawford, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, and Sting.

Cavalli loves challenges. In 2002, Florence saw the opening of his cafè boutique, the Giacosa Cafè, retaining the essence of traditional tea houses and imparting his personal touch of animal prints to it. This was followed in Milan with the Just Cavalli cafè of Torre Branca and Via Spiga.

Cavalli also appreciates talent when it comes from other directions. He cherishes pleasing relationships with world famous personalities of the modern society like Lenny Kravitz, Britney Spears, Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncè Knowles. All of them frequently sport Roberto Cavalli, which is a live testimony of his growing success.

Cavalli and Movies

Roberto Cavalli has teamed up with Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis and produced the costumes for 6's The Decameron, 2006. The movie starred Mischa Barton, a big fan of the designer, and also starring Hayden Christensen.

Cavalli has a secret, the secret to success. And that is - making success out of the job at one’s hand, is the best step in the direction of the kind of life one wants!